Clifford Chance and Kirkland lead on $1.8bn PE buy of UK tech firm

Clifford Chance and Kirkland are leading on the sale of UK‑headquartered cloud software provider Smart Communications from tech‑focused private equity firm Accel‑KKR to fellow PE firm Cinven, in a deal reportedly valuing the business at around $1.8 billion.

Smart Communications provides customer communication management and inbound conversation management software, and counts more than 650 enterprise customers globally, including major players in financial services, insurance and healthcare.

Accel‑KKR (a joint venture between VC firm Accel and buyout giant KKR) first invested in 2016 when the business was spun out of UK software firm Thunderhead. It will retain a minority stake in the company going forward.

Advising

Clifford Chance is acting for buyer Cinven on the M&A side. The team is led by London-based private equity partners Shimin Lee and Jonny Myers, relationship partner and global head of private equity.

Freshfields is advising longstanding client Cinven on the debt financing for the deal. The team is led by London leveraged finance partner Aled Batey. New York-based global co-head of leveraged finance Allison Liff is also involved.

Kirkland & Ellis is advising sellers Accel‑KKR. The team includes London corporate partners Carlos Gil Rivas, James Hunn and Andrew McAlpine.